Vitamin C Prevents Hypogonadal Bone Loss

Epidemiologic studies correlate low vitamin C intake with bone loss. The genetic deletion of enzymes involved in de novo vitamin C synthesis in mice, likewise, causes severe osteoporosis. However, very few studies have evaluated a protective role of this dietary supplement on the skeleton. Here, we show that the ingestion of vitamin C prevents the low-turnover bone loss following ovariectomy in mice. We show that this prevention in areal bone mineral density and micro-CT parameters results from the stimulation of bone formation, demonstrable in vivo by histomorphometry, bone marker measurements, and quantitative PCR. Notably, the reductions in the bone formation rate, plasma osteocalcin levels, and ex vivo osteoblast gene expression 8 weeks post-ovariectomy are all returned to levels of sham-operated controls. The study establishes vitamin C as a skeletal anabolic agent. © 2012 Zhu et al

Myostatin inhibits osteoblastic differentiation by suppressing osteocyte-derived exosomal microRNA-218: A novel mechanism in muscle-bone communication

Muscle and bone are closely associated in both anatomy and function, but the mechanisms that coordinate their synergistic action remain poorly defined. Myostatin, a myokine secreted by muscles, has been shown to inhibit muscle growth, and the disruption of the myostatin gene has been reported to cause muscle hypertrophy and increase bone mass. Extracellular vesicle-exosomes that carry microRNA (miRNA), mRNA, and proteins are known to perform an important role in cell-cell communication. We hypothesized that myostatin may play a crucial role in muscle-bone interactions and may promote direct effects on osteocytes and on osteocyte-derived exosomal miRNAs, thereby indirectly influencing the function of other bone cells. We report herein that myostatin promotes expression of several bone regulators such as sclerostin (SOST), DKK1, and RANKL in cultured osteocytic (Ocy454) cells, concomitant with the suppression of miR-218 in both parent Ocy454 cells and derived exosomes. Exosomes produced by Ocy454 cells that had been pretreated with myostatin could be taken up by osteoblastic MC3T3 cells, resulting in a marked reduction of Runx2, a key regulator of osteoblastic differentiation, and in decreased osteoblastic differentiation via the down-regulation of the Wnt signaling pathway. Importantly, the inhibitory effect of myostatin-modified osteocytic exosomes on osteoblast differentiation is completely reversed by expression of exogenous miR-218, through a mechanism involving miR-218-mediated inhibition of SOST. Together, our findings indicate that myostatin directly influences osteocyte function and thereby inhibits osteoblastic differentiation, at least in part, through the suppression of osteocyte-derived exosomal miR-218, suggesting a novel mechanism in muscle-bone communication

Vitamin C Prevents Hypogonadal Bone Loss

Abstract Epidemiologic studies correlate low vitamin C intake with bone loss. The genetic deletion of enzymes involved in de novo vitamin C synthesis in mice, likewise, causes severe osteoporosis. However, very few studies have evaluated a protective role of this dietary supplement on the skeleton. Here, we show that the ingestion of vitamin C prevents the low-turnover bone loss following ovariectomy in mice. We show that this prevention in areal bone mineral density and micro-CT parameters results from the stimulation of bone formation, demonstrable in vivo by histomorphometry, bone marker measurements, and quantitative PCR. Notably, the reductions in the bone formation rate, plasma osteocalcin levels, and ex vivo osteoblast gene expression 8 weeks post-ovariectomy are all returned to levels of sham-operated controls. The study establishes vitamin C as a skeletal anabolic agent

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Progress in Imidazolium Ionic Liquids Assisted Fabrication of Carbon Nanotube and Graphene Polymer Composites

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Role of soluble and exchangeable nitrogen pools in N cycling and the impact of nitrogen added in forest soil

Nitrogen (N) cycle in forest soils is altered by water, salt, or acid solutions, and its internal transfers to and from each existing inorganic pools are not known comprehensively. To evaluate the soluble and exchangeable N pools, bulk soil (B soil), water-extracted soil (W soil), and the 0.5 mol L-1 K2SO4-treated soil (K soil) were incubated for up to 48 days to comprehend the dynamics of inorganic (NH4+ and NO3-) and soluble organic N (SON) in water-soluble, exchangeable, 2.5 mol L-1 H2SO4 (labile pool I, LPI) and 13 mol L-1 H2SO4 (labile pool II, LPII) pools. To test the N deposition effects, additional NH4NO3 solution was added to B, W, and K soils at amount of 40 mg N kg(-1) soil. The results showed that though there was more NO3- removed when W soil was prepared, the similar net nitrification rate in W soil to B soil and more than 20 mg N kg(-1) water-soluble NO3- were observed in W soil, which indicated that the loss of NO3- would be enhanced. In contrast, there was more water-soluble and exchangeable NH4+ for K soil compared with B soil. The different dynamic of NO3- between W and K soil suggested that nitrifiers might dominate in the soil matrix rather than the soil solution. After incubation, each N form in the LPI decreased, which can be attributed to the allocation of remaining N into the recalcitrant pool, except the increase of NH4+ for B soil and NO3- for K soil, and NO3- in LPII for B soil. Compared with control, N addition increased mineralization of exchangeable SON to promote nitrification regardless of soils, but weakened the immobilization of NO3-. In addition, N in LPI and LPII pools have increased, which might be related to decomposition of recalcitrant organic matter induced by N addition to transform when the water-soluble and exchangeable N was removed. Therefore, the changes of soluble and exchangeable nitrogen pools impact the N cycling. Our findings can give some explanation for whole soil N transformation responses to N deposition

Membrane preconcentration of iron in seawater samples and on-site determination in spectrophotometry

State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science (MEL) [MELRI1001]A novel method for on-site determination of trace iron was developed using membrane preconcentration and spectrophotometric detection. Fe(II)-ferrozine complex was reacted with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) to form a Fe(II)-ferrozine-CTAB paired compound, which was collected on a membrane by filtration under vacuum. The membrane was immersed in 2 mL of ethanol-nitric acid and the absorbance of the solution measured for quantitative analysis. Various factors affecting the iron collection and determination were investigated. With different sample preconcentration volumes, the range of determination was broadened to 0.5-120 mu g/L. The detection limit of this method reached 0.19 mu g/L and the recoveries were between 97.2 and 109% when the concentration enrichment was about 45. The relative standard deviation (n = 7) was 1.9% for samples containing 10 mu g/L Fe. Twelve seawater samples were analyzed on-site using the proposed method, and two were also analyzed in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. No significant difference was shown between the two methods by the Student's t-test. The method has also been used on-site for iron enrichment experiments with phytoplankton and concluded to be simple, accurate and inexpensive

Cooperative Three-View Imaging Optical Coherence Tomography for Intraoperative Vascular Evaluation

Real-time intraoperative optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging of blood vessels after anastomosis operation can provide important information the vessel, such as patency, flow speed, and thrombosis morphology. Due to the strong scattering and absorption effect of blood, normal OCT imaging suffers from the problem of incomplete cross-sectional view of the vessel under investigation when the diameter is large. In this work, we present a novel cooperative three-view imaging spectral domain optical coherence tomography system for intraoperative exposed vascular imaging. Two more side views (left view and right view) were realized through a customized sample arm optical design and corresponding mechanical design and fabrication, which could generate cross-sectional images from three circumferential view directions to achieve a larger synthetic field of view (FOV). For each view, the imaging depth was 6.7 mm (in air) and the lateral scanning range was designed to be 3 mm. Therefore, a shared synthetic rectangle FOV of 3 mm × 3 mm was achieved through cooperative three view scanning. This multi-view imaging method can meet the circumferential imaging demands of vessels with an outer diameter less than 3 mm. Both phantom tube and rat vessel imaging confirmed the increased system FOV performance. We believe the intraoperative application of this cooperative three-imaging optical coherence tomography for objective vascular anastomosis evaluation can benefit patient outcomes in the future

Hydrological response of loess slopes with reference to widespread landslide events in the Heifangtai terrace, NW China

In the Heifangtai terrace, NW China, flooding irrigation is common for the cropland production and has increased the groundwater table by 20–30 m over the past five decades. It is believed that excessive irrigation has induced a large number of loess landslides in this area. However, these loess landslides responses to hydrological changes have still not been well understood. Therefore, 43 boreholes and 51 2D Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) profiles with a total length of 40 km have been investigated to analyze the hydrological characteristics for the whole terrace and characterize the effects of hydrological changes on the occurrence of different types of loess landslides. Our main findings are as follows: (1) Three groundwater domes are found in the center and eastern part of the Heitai terrace and the groundwater table is gradually rising in the whole terrace based on the ERT results. (2) The rising rate of groundwater table at the center of the terrace is twice greater than that at the margin of the terrace and it takes approximately 4 months for irrigation water to penetrate from the top surface to the saturated layer. (3) Landslide deposits could block drainage channels of groundwater, increase the localized hydraulic gradient and result in rising of local groundwater table at the edge of the terrace. (4) The resultant hydraulic gradient impels the groundwater from the center to seep out on the eastern and southern margins and new landslides are prone to occur in the main scarp of landslides with rising groundwater table. The type and magnitude of landslides are affected by groundwater seepage and movement. In order to fundamentally control the occurrence of landslides, effective drainage system and the restrained amount of irrigation water are needed

Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Activity of Magnetic BiOBr/SrFe₁₂O₁₉ Nanosheets

Magnetic BiOBr/SrFe12O19 nanosheets were successfully synthesized using the hydrothermal method. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and UV-visible diffused reflectance spectra (UV-DRS), and the magnetic properties were tested using a vibration sample magnetometer (VSM). The as-produced composite with an irregular flaky-shaped aggregate possesses a good anti-demagnetization ability (Hc = 861.04 G) and a high photocatalytic efficiency. Under visible light (λ > 420 nm) and UV light-emitting diode (LED) irradiation, the photodegradation rates of Rhodamine B (RhB) using BiOBr/SrFe12O19 (5 wt %) (BOB/SFO-5) after 30 min of reaction were 97% and 98%, respectively, which were higher than that using BiOBr (87%). The degradation rate of RhB using the recovered BiOBr/5 wt % SrFe12O19 (marked as BOB/SFO-5) was still more than 85% in the fifth cycle, indicating the high stability of the composite catalyst. Meanwhile, after five cycles, the magnetic properties were still as stable as before. The radical-capture experiments proved that superoxide radicals and holes were main active species in the photocatalytic degradation of RhB